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Data Exchange Definition for Json

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Posted on by Nick Webb

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Can anybody point me in the direction of a tutorial about configuring a Business Central Data Exchange Definition for importing Json data? I've created ones in the past to handle CSV data, but not Json.

This requirement is to work in conjunction with a Currency Exchange Rate Services set-up.

Here's the format I need to handle:-

{
   /disclaimer/: /Usage subject to terms: https://openexchangerates.org/terms/,
   /license/: https://openexchangerates.org/license/,
   /timestamp/: 1692266400,
   /base/: /USD/,
   /rates/:
   {
       /AED/: 3.67305,
       /AFN/: 84.67614,
       /ALL/: 96.873903,
       /CAD/: 1.352029,
       /CHF/: 0.879243,
       /EUR/: 0.919645,
       /GBP/: 0.786105,
       /USD/: 1
   }
}

Thanks in advance for any help.

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Dynamics 365 Business Central

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Nick Webb 891 on at

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Apologies. The web-site mangled the Json. Here's another try:

{ "disclaimer": "Usage subject to terms: https://openexchangerates.org/terms", "license": "https://openexchangerates.org/license", "timestamp": 1692266400, "base": "USD", "rates": { "AED": 3.67305, "AFN": 84.67614, "ALL": 96.873903, "CAD": 1.352029, "CHF": 0.879243, "GBP": 0.786105, "USD": 1 } }

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Ram Pranav 50 on at

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Hi Nick,

Maybe these links are useful:

Set Up Data Exchange Definitions
Update Currency Exchange Rates
Getting exchange rates from a JSON web service in Business Central

Regards,

Ram Pranav.

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Nick Webb 891 on at

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Hi Ram,

Thanks for your response. Yes, I've seen all 3 of those links before:

'Set Up Data Exchange Definitions' is too generic. It only mentions Json once in the whole page. I'm after a web-page that is specific to handling Json. For instance, what should the various Codeunits be set to in the Data Exchange Definition page?

Also, how do you map the various nodes/tags in the incoming Json to the Line Definitions, Column Definitions & Field Mapping? Note, in my sample Json, the rates tag is an array of key/value pairs (Currency-Code & Rate). How is that configured?

There's also Field Mapping in the Currency Exch. Rate Service page. Where should the settings be assigned? In the Currency Exch. Rate Service page, the Data Exchange Definition page, both, other?

I'm looking for a tutorial page that first shows a sample bit of Json data and then describes how to configure the various BC pages to handle it?

'Update Currency Exchange Rates' will come into play once I've handled the Json.

'Getting exchange rates from a JSON web service in Business Central' is very useful, but it completely bypasses the above 2 methods. It's a custom extension solution. My question is: can it be achieved in the BC GUI without an extension?

Regards

Nick

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AL-04070808-0 2 on at

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@Nick Webb - did you ever manage to solve this? If so - how? 😊

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Khushbu Rajvi. 20,601 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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please check this: Getting exchange rates from a JSON web service in Business Central

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Nick Webb 891 on at

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Not with Data Exchange Definition. I had to write a codeunit.

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Jeffrey Bulanadi 8,760 on at

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Hi Nick

Handling JSON with Data Exchange Definitions in Business Central isn’t as straightforward as CSV, but it’s doable with the right setup. Since you’re working with a Currency Exchange Rate Service, the key is mapping the JSON structure to the expected fields in Business Central

Here’s what you can look into

Use the Data Exchange Definition page to define the structure, but note that JSON support is limited in the standard GUI. You’ll likely need to use custom codeunits to parse the JSON and feed it into the exchange rate tables

The rates section in your sample is a dictionary of currency codes and values. You’ll need to loop through that using AL code, probably with JsonObject, JsonToken, and JsonValue types

You can reference this guide for working with JSON in AL https://businesscentralgeek.com/json-full-guide-in-business-central

And this one gives a broader overview of JSON integration https://sumindex.co.in/a-comprehensive-guide-to-json-in-microsoft-dynamics-365-business-central

If you’re looking to avoid custom extensions, the standard Data Exchange Definition might not be enough to handle nested JSON like this. You’d need to build a small extension that reads the JSON and maps it to the Currency Exchange Rate table

If this helped, feel free to mark it as the suggested or verified answer

Cheers
Jeffrey

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YUN ZHU 95,729 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi, hope the following can give you some hints.

Business Central 2025 wave 1 (BC26): Overloaded JsonObject data type GetValue method (New methods access properties and array elements for JSON)

https://yzhums.com/62699/

Thanks.

ZHU

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